Free buses are vital for older people – axing them is wrong (From The Argus)

Free buses are vital for older people – axing them is wrong

8:10am Friday 10th February 2012 in Your Argus

THE eagle-eyed amongst your readers will have spotted deep within Brighton and Hove City Council’s draft budget papers a reference to changes to bus services which the council currently subsidises. Clearly set out are proposals for “fewer supported bus routes” and that “unviable services with very poor patronage will be reduced or withdrawn”.

Bus services are vital to many vulnerable groups within the city, older people being a prime example. Free bus travel allows older people to shop, socialise and access services which keep them independent.

This lets them play a full and active role in the life of our city and indeed reduces the cost of support to the council and society as a whole. As subsidised buses compete with other services for scarce council funding, any campaign to save individual routes looks to be an uphill struggle.

Bus users all over the city should be concerned whether their route will be one that faces the axe completely or suffer a reduced timetable. As a city we enjoy a formidable bus service; one of the most comprehensive in the country, as the list of awards on the Brighton and Hove Bus Company website shows. Its website also states the local market for bus travel has grown 5% every year since 1993.

It should be possible for the council and a company which has been supported by the city for a long time to come together to ensure any reduction in services is kept to a minimum. Alternative ways of delivering this service must be fully explored.

Peter Terry, Brighton and Hove Older People’s Council